"What is with that look?"
Ye Xinglan saw Xie Xie casting a strange, assessing glance at her and frowned slightly.
"Nothing."
Xie Xie looked away and shrugged. "All of you from Shrek Academy are here, but our boss is not. Is it not okay for me to express some regret?"
"He and we are no longer on the same level. The things he has to do are far beyond what we can get involved in. Do not think about it." Ye Xinglan walked past Xie Xie indifferently.
Xie Xie raised an eyebrow. For once, he did not feel the urge to argue.
After all, what she said was the truth.
Moreover, this was a diplomatic mission representing the Federation. It was not appropriate for the two sides to clash. A few casual words were fine. They were not little kids anymore who had to argue until they got heated.
Not wanting to talk much with Ye Xinglan, Xie Xie turned to look at his good friend. "Wulin, what is wrong with you lately? Why are you so distracted?"
Tang Wulin snapped back to reality and smiled weakly. "Nothing. Maybe I have been too tired from training lately."
Xie Xie looked at him suspiciously. "Really? You have been absent minded these past two days. Even during meals, you are staring into space."
"Really, nothing."
Seeing Xie Xie's unconvinced look, Tang Wulin sighed. After a moment's hesitation, he said quietly, "My father said that if I had the chance, I should find someone in Xingluo to deliver a thank you gift on his behalf, to express his gratitude to the person who helped him leave Xingluo back then. But as you know, these past few days, I have not had the chance to leave here."
"And the contact information my father gave me seems to have been abandoned by that person. I cannot reach them using Xingluo's soul communicator either. So I am a bit worried. Although my father said not to force it, it would still be good if I could fulfill his wish."
"So that is it."
Halfway through, Xie Xie's eyes widened in shock. "Wait. You mean your father used to be from Xingluo?"
Tang Wulin nodded slightly.
He had only learned this before coming to Xingluo. It seemed that Teacher Bear Lord had visited his father and talked about something, which led his father to tell him that he was originally from Xingluo.
He said that he had encountered a great change and left here when he was very young, smuggled to the Douluo Federation with the help of some people.
However, Tang Wulin always felt that he was hiding something, such as the details of that great incident.
But since Tang Ziran did not say anything, Tang Wulin wisely chose not to ask.
Xie Xie gasped. He looked Tang Wulin up and down with a strange expression. "Your template really looks like the protagonist of a revenge story."
Tang Wulin was stunned. "What are you talking about?"
"Think about it. Since your father was forced to leave Xingluo, it means he must have been wronged. Maybe he was once a genius soul master, but was framed and lost his former strength, forced to hide his identity and leave his homeland, eventually meeting your mother in the Douluo Federation. Then he had you, a genius son, who then rises up and embarks on a journey of revenge."
Xie Xie became more and more excited as he spoke, gesturing animatedly. "This plot perfectly fits the classic formula of a fallen genius, hidden identity, and the rise of the next generation."
Tang Wulin gave him a deadpan look. "And then? Now that I am in Xingluo, am I supposed to follow the formula and take revenge and slap faces? Where is the enemy?"
Xie Xie was startled. Then he stroked his chin and pretended to think. "According to the plot development, such a villain is either a direct descendant of some great family, specifically used to train the protagonist in the early stages, or a big boss that runs through the entire story."
"Your father is a bit older. It should be the latter, right? Maybe he is a Limit Douluo? If that is the case, you probably will not encounter him now. At most, you might run into his underlings."
Tang Wulin said, "..."
He made it sound so real.
His father was an ordinary person. How could he be connected to a Limit Douluo?
If it were true... he would eat three extra bowls of rice every day and stuff himself to death.
"Read fewer novels. My father left Xingluo when he was a child. Where does a fallen genius come from?" Tang Wulin sighed and patted Xie Xie's shoulder. "And right now, our opponents are the Xingluo students, not some underlings of my father's enemy. The competition is about to start. Let us go."
As for the benefactor who had helped his father back then, Tang Wulin had to temporarily set aside the thought of finding him.
His father Tang Ziran's memory of that past had already become vague. He only had a name and a long invalid contact method. He could not even remember the benefactor's appearance clearly. With such sparse clues, finding someone was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
This was understandable.
In the eyes of Huo Yuhao, who knew the inside story, it was already a miracle that Tang Ziran
had grown into a sound minded, upright person after the trauma of witnessing his mother's brutal death as a child. It was truly not right to demand more from him.
Tang Wulin gently shook his head, dispelling unrealistic thoughts.
He could not exactly alarm the Xingluo Federation over this, could he?
He was quite sober about his own identity and would not forget the uproar Huo Yuhao had caused in Xingluo earlier.
If he acted rashly, it would not only be unhelpful but would also create unnecessary trouble for the Spirit Transmission Tower.
For now, he could only pray in his heart that the benefactor was safe.
...
"Achoo."
Feng Linwan watched his elderly teacher sneeze. He handed him a cup of hot tea, his tone full of concern.
"Teacher, have you caught a chill?"
The old man rubbed his nose and waved his hand with a smile. "It is nothing, nothing. Perhaps someone is thinking of this old man."
Feng Linwan shook his head helplessly. "You are always like this. You are old, yet you still do not take care of your health."
The old man smiled without speaking. He picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and looked out the window with a distant gaze, as if reminiscing about something.
After a long while, he suddenly spoke. "Linwan, do you still remember the child I mentioned saving in the Xingluo Federation decades ago?"
"Yes. You said you sent him to the Douluo Federation."
"That is right. Do you want to go?"
Seeing Feng Linwan frozen in place, the old man smiled. "Recently, a Douluo Federation delegation has come to Xingluo for exchanges. You have also heard the various rumors about life over there, have you not?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Linwan fell silent.
He had indeed heard many things. Scenes of humans and spirit beasts coexisting peacefully, highly advanced soul tool technology, commoners able to enjoy a good quality of life, and so on.
Now, some people in the organization even call this place hell and that place paradise.
"Teacher, do you want me to leave Xingluo?"
Feng Linwan looked up, a trace of complex flashing in his eyes.
"Consider it."
The old man sighed softly, his gaze kind and deep. "This old teacher is getting old, but you are still young. If you have the chance to go to a better place, why stay here?"
Feng Linwan clenched his fists. "If our Dawn Society succeeds, perhaps we can usher in a future for Xingluo."
The old man shook his head. "You are not even sure of that yourself, so do not fantasize. The Dawn Society cannot succeed."
Feng Linwan wanted to say more, but an alarm sounded.
"Enemy attack. Enemy attack."
Feng Linwan's expression changed drastically. He quickly stood up. "Teacher, I will go take a look."
Watching Feng Linwan rush away hastily, the old man's expression remained very calm, as if he had expected this.
"They have come, as expected."
He took out a soul communicator and dialed a series of numbers, thinking to himself, "Spirit soul ancestor, you have been with our family for quite some time. I believe in the future you have described. You cannot deceive me."
"When have I ever deceived you? Oh, right, that number was wrong. Let me give you the correct one to contact them."
"..."
Is that not deception? You never trusted me before.
***
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